Atlanta -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Defendants with limited English-language skills have a constitutional right to court interpreters in criminal trials , the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled Monday .

The ruling came in a case involving a Mandarin Chinese speaker who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on two counts of cruelty to a child . Annie Ling , who had limited English language skills , did not understand that she had the option to plead guilty instead of going to trial and possibly facing a longer sentence , said the American Civil Liberties Union , one of two groups that filed a friend-of-the-court brief stating that denying a defendant an interpreter violates the U.S. Constitution and civil rights laws .

`` The court acknowledged that we do n't have two systems of justice in this country -- one for English speakers and another for everyone else , '' said Azadeh Shahshahani , director of the National Security/Immigrants ' Rights Project at the ACLU of Georgia . `` The constitutional guarantee of due process applies to everyone in this country , not just fluent English speakers . ''

Ling was arrested and charged with two counts of cruelty to a child . Her children were removed from the home and placed in foster care , according to court documents . After a 2008 trial , Ling was convicted of one count of cruelty to a child , and sentenced to 15 years , with 10 to serve in prison . The conviction was appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court .

The court agreed with the brief , in which the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center joined with the ACLU , that the Sixth Amendment and the due process clause of the 14th Amendment guarantee the defendant the right to an interpreter .

The Georgia Supreme Court also instructed all Georgia state courts to practice `` vigilance in protecting the rights of non-English-speakers . ''

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Defendant says she did not understand her options

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The ACLU says the case violated the Constitution

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The woman was sentenced to 10 years in the 2008 case